• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.24
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• pp.51-72
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• 2004

Over the past fifty years, the share of the World's shipping fleet operating under open registry has grown from 4 % to almost half of the total tonnage. While there has been strong opposition based on the costs of maritime disasters and opposition both from the traditional maritime nations, which have suffered erosion of their fleets, and from labour unions, which point to worker exploitation, the shipping companies have found the greater operational and financial flexibility which accompanies open registry to be a considerable attraction The paper consists of seven sections. Section 1 explains the background and of the study. Section 2 reviews the characteristics and definition of FOC. Section 3 is to identify ship register categories and their competitive conditions. Section 4 tackles the emerging forces of globalisation-the advent of FOC. Section 5 deals with legal maritime framework. Section 6 tackles the current structure and characteristics of FOC vessels. Some concluding comments follow in the last section.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.338-346
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• 2020

In this study, we first measured the Malmquist productivity index by DEA among the Korean ocean carriers. Second, it was intended to present measures to improve productivity by identifying the influence and discriminating power between productivity and the major financial ratios (profitability, financial stability, liquidity, efficiency and value-added productivity). Compared to 2017, there are 11 more shipping carriers with decline in productivity (MPI) than those with an increase in 2018. The increase in productivity is attributed to an increase in the Technology Change Index (TCI) affected by the external environment. There is strong significant correlation between the productivity (MPI) and the management efficiency (CRS). Additionally, the TECI (TECHI) index of the technological efficiency changes from internal factors of the shipping carrier is significantly higher than that of the efficient shipping carrier. This is because of the differences in scale efficiency. The ratio of charter cost/sales is also lower than that of the carriers with high productivity (0.17) and with low productivity (0.21). With 7% of the shipping carrier with MPI>1, only 1% of MPI <1 is found to have a significant impact on its productivity.

• Korean Journal of Artificial Intelligence
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.17-24
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• 2024

This study aims to derive a technology development roadmap in related fields by utilizing patent documents of financial technology. To this end, patent documents are extracted by dragging technical keywords from prior research and related reports on financial technology. By applying the TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency) technique in the extracted patent document, which is a text mining technique, to the extracted patent documents, the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm was applied to identify the keywords and identify the topics of the core technologies of financial technology. Based on the proportion of topics by year, which is the result of LDA, promising technology fields and convergence fields were identified through trend analysis and similarity analysis between topics. A first-stage technology development roadmap for technology field development and a second-stage technology development roadmap for convergence were derived through network analysis about the technology data-based integrated management system of the high-dimensional payment system using RF and intelligent cards, as well as the security processing methodology for data information and network payment, which are identified financial technology fields. The proposed method can serve as a sufficient reason basis for developing financial technology R&D strategies and technology roadmaps.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.103-126
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• 2007

As a result of the development of heavy and chemical industries during the Economic Development Plan, Korean shipbuilding industry expanded its capacity rapidly and became a strategic export industry. The 1973 Arab oil crisis and the subsequent doubling of oil prices greatly reduced world demand for tankers and the market was crashed as numberous orders for tankers were cancelled in Japan and Europe. Under these circumstances, Korean Shipping industry also experienced a decrease in overseas demand for shipbuilding. The Korean government established the 'planned shipbuilding' scheme. The primary purpose of the scheme was to develop the shipbuilding industry, to link the industry to the shipping industry and to develop both industries together. However, Japanese shipping established goals linking with macro-national economic policy, such as saving foreign currencies and freight of importing goods, also assisting reconstruction and development of shipbuilding industry. To accomplish these goals, Japanese government used several policy tools such as financial assistance, law, guidance.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.181-186
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• 2013

In a corporate financing, the decision of optimal capital structure is becoming more critical issues and still remaining a problem to be solved though many of researcher have studied. Particularly, shipping companies need a huge amount of capital finance for new vessel's capacity and then they are considering what is the best capital structure. In this point of view, this study tries to investigate the determinants of debit maturity structure focused on the Korean shipping industry. As results of panel regression analysis, firm size, liquidity, chance of growth, good cash flow are major determinants of debit expiration structure in the Korean shipping companies.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.19-38
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• 2013

This paper explores the relationship between shipping firm's investment and debt-ratio characteristics. Using a panel of 41 shipping firms from 2006 to 2011, this study finds evidence that debt/asset ratio and leverage are negatively associated with firm's investment activities. This relationship shows that volume of debt and capital structure are critical decision factor on firm's investment and capital financing. In terms of financial expenses to sales, positive relationship is existed with firm's investment finding that financing cost is important to investment. The previous study of the firm's investment in other sector also shows a negative relationship with debit ratio. This study is also interested in the extent to which the firm's investment is affected by firm size because there is general agreement that smaller firms have less access to external capital markets. As results, smaller companies group have more positive relationship with factors related to financing cost such as financial expenses to sales and tax. On the other hand, bigger companies group shows the evidence that firm investment is positive relationship with asset size. The analysis corresponding to economic fluctuation shows that debit ratio is more sensitive to firm's investment during a recession. On the other hand, financial expenses to sales is more related to firm's investment during an economic boom.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 2020

In the field of logistics, the maritime shipping industry plays a critical role as the backbone of global trade activities. Nevertheless, previous studies on the commercialization and benefits of blockchain technology are limited in the field of marine logistics. Thus, the purpose of this study was to predict the benefit for each group involved in marine logistics when blockchain technology is applied. As such, 21 factors of benefits were selected for seven major logistics groups (financial institutions, freight forwarders, inland transportation, ocean carriers, port operators, port-related government authorities, and shippers) to study the benefit expected for each through the commercialization of blockchain technology. Based on the results, a different benefit level is expected for each group when blockchain technology is used. In order, ocean carriers (0.155), inland transportation (0.150), financial institutions (0.153), port operators (0.145), freight forwarders (0.142), port-related government authorities (0.129), and shippers (0.126) were found to benefit most from the use of blockchain technology. This study has industrial implications in that it presents the benefits expected when blockchain technology is realized and used in marine logistics by groups involved in logistics transactions.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.264-272
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• 2019

In this study, the rate of return on investment used as a proxy variable for the entity's value and financial structure (liability ratio) is related to positive balance. This is consistent with the Static Tradeoff Theory (STT) that the entity's value and financial structure are related to a positive balance because the capital expense of a debt (tax-saving effects) that is less than its equity cost before it is in financial difficulty. Also, operating profitability (EBITDA/Sales), investment safety, total asset growth, net working capital and depreciation expenses are related to negative (-) with financial structure (liability ratio). This is the result of an analysis consistent with the Pecking Order Theory (POT). Fuel costs, borrowing, total asset turnover, financial costs, and tangible asset ratios have a significant positive relationship with the debt ratio. This is consistent with the agency theory and confirms that excessive chartering expenses, such as the bankrupt H company, are the main factors that pressure the financial structure of Korean ocean carriers.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1-15
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• 2015

During global recessions, such as the 2008 financial crisis, Korean shipping companies have been undergoing a liquidity crisis that is comparably worse than other shipping companies worldwide. One of the reasons behind this repetitive vicious cycle can be the lack of ability to foresee the future by analyzing and understanding the volatile shipping market. Traditionally, in order to assimilate the shipping market, larger Korean shipping companies have been purchasing market reports published by Europe-based research companies and shipping brokers, leading to a digital divide by company size. To resolve this issue, the Maritime Exchange Information Center (MEIC) has been publishing shipping market reports that include essential shipping information such as freight rates by different routes; commodity trends for iron ore, grain, and coal; ship-building trends for new-building, second-hand, and demolition markets; as well as bunker price and port congestion. This research was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of four variables-information usefulness, market reflection, information composition, and latest information-on information satisfaction. If the information satisfaction was found to be adequate, the analysis of actual proof was used to determine if the customers would be willing to purchase MEIC's report when it is chargeable. All the four variables were found to have positive effects on information satisfaction. In particular, latest information was found to directly affect the intention to purchase. Furthermore, high information satisfaction was related to the intention to purchase.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.321-326
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Big 4 accounting firms contribute to the reduction of earnings management when auditing shipping companies. Generally, it is understood that companies audited by the Big 4 accounting firms engage in minimal earnings management and maintain high audit quality. However, these factors may vary depending on industry and firm size. As a result, this study empirically analyzes the impact of audits conducted by large accounting firms on earnings management within the shipping industry. The Big 4 accounting firms, namely PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, and EY, are the focus of this research. Discretionary accruals are employed as a proxy for earnings management, with the modified J ones model and the performance matched model used to measure discretionary accruals. The analysis, which covers shipping companies listed on KOSP I from 2001 to 2023, reveals that audits conducted by the Big 4 accounting firms do not significantly influence earnings management in the shipping industry. Unlike the general case, it is evident that audits by the Big 4 accounting firms do not play a role in reducing earnings management in shipping companies. This paper is significant as it examines the role of auditors within the shipping industry and presents findings that deviate from commonly known information. Shipping companies should take into consideration that the audit quality of the Big 4 accounting firms may not always be guaranteed when selecting an auditor. Furthermore, supervisory authorities such as the Financial Supervisory Service should engage in oversight based on an accurate understanding of the audit quality offered by the Big 4 accounting firms.